RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
A SPATE of flesh eating bacteria cases in Tasmania has left at least seven people battling the deadly condition since last week.
TODAY
• Two double decker buses have collided in Times Square, New York
• Fairfax columnist Mike Carlton has resigned after abusing readers critical of his column on the conflict in Gaza.
• Thai medical authorities are threatening to take legal action against baby Gammy’s surrogate mother as fears emerge for his twin sister who is now in the care of a convicted paedophile.
• Israel has completed the withdrawal of all troops from Gaza, declaring “mission accomplished”.
• A spate of flesh eating bacteria cases in Tasmania has left at least seven people battling the deadly condition since last week.
10am
That’s it for our live #RUSHHOUR news blog. You can get across the stories you need to know today below or go to news.com.au for the latest headlines.
9.45am
A librarian has been charged with computer hacking related to the leaking of a $60,000 scholarship given to Tony Abbott’s daughter Frances.
Sydney woman Freya Newman, 21, now faces up to two years jail if the charges are proved.
NSW Police has charged Newman, a communications student at the University of Technology, Sydney, with unauthorised access to restricted data held in a computer.
It follows a complain from the Whitehouse Institute of Design, which had its computer system hacked and student records leaked to the media.
9.35am
More than 1.6 billion internet username and password combinations have been stolen by a Russian crime gang in a massive security breach.
US security firm Hold Security revealed confidential material had been gathered from more than 500 million email addresses and 420,000 websites.
The breach has sparked warnings for Australians to step up their password security details to avoid having their information stolen.
9.05am
Palmer United Party’s Jacqui Lambie, has emerged as a woman with very specific demands.
The Tasmanian senator has reportedly told the nation’s Treasurer, Joe Hockey, that her support for his budget is dependent on … wait for it … extra funding for mushroom growers and bumble bee farmers.
8.35am
A spate of flesh eating bacteria cases in Tasmania has left at least seven people battling the deadly condition since last week.
One patient has reportedly lost an arm and another had part of their buttock removed, according to the Mercury.
Disease experts said the recent cases appeared to be coincidental, rather than an outbreak, as the patients had picked up the bug in different parts of the state.
8.05am
Thai medical authorities are threatening to take legal action against baby Gammy’s surrogate mother as fears emerge for his twin sister who is now in the care of a convicted paedophile.
The Thai Ministry of Public Health says the fact that Gammy’s surrogate mother Pattaramon Chanbua received payment of $15,000 was in contravention of Thailand’s human trafficking laws. Thai reports said the ministry is considering charges.
Meanwhile more details of Gammy’s Australian father have emerged, including that he was sentenced for three year’s jail for sexually molesting two girls under the age of 13.
Ms Pattaramon said she was shocked to hear of his history and would be willing to take Gammy’s twin sister back.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on morning show Today this morning that he was not sure how much the federal government could do, as the laws covering surrogacy and child protection were governed by the states.
7.45am
Fairfax columnist Mike Carlton has resigned after using anti-Semitic and abusive language towards readers critical of one of his columns.
Last night Fairfax editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir apologised to readers after he discovered Carlton had been using offensive language during correspondence with the paper’s readers.
Fairfax media’s news and business media director Sean Alymer told 2UE this morning that it was Carlton’s response to readers that got him in trouble.
“It’s not the article itself, it’s the way he treated readers,” Mr Alymer said.
“He was called last night, we said we’d suspend him and he’s resigned on the spot.”
Carlton’s column on the conflict in Gaza had many readers up in arms and this week Fairfax apologised for running a cartoon, which it said in hindsight was racist, that accompanied it.
7.05am
Israel has proclaimed “mission accomplished” as it completed the withdrawal of all troops from Gaza as part of a 72-hour humanitarian that truce took effect following intense global pressure to end the bloody conflict.
A post on the Israel Defence Force’s Twitter account announced it had achieved its goals.
Mission accomplished: We have destroyed Hamas' tunnels leading from Gaza into Israel. All of Israel is now safer. pic.twitter.com/aDz3XKWdIN
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 5, 2014We targeted many of the sites in Shuja'iya that Hamas used for military purposes. Retweet our map. pic.twitter.com/uO33ayAsjN
— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 5, 2014Minutes before the ceasefire took hold, Israel’s military and Hamas both engaged in shows of firepower, seemingly determined to have the last word on the 29th day of their hostilities.
The United States said Tuesday that it expects to participate in Cairo talks between Israelis and Palestinians aimed at securing a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, AFP reports.
“I think it is likely we will be participating in these talks,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. “We are determining at what level and in what capacity and when.”
6.40am
Adelaide River’s most famous and fearsome resident, the 5.5 metre croc Brutus, has been snapped swallowing a bull shark.
According to the NT News, Brutus, who is thought to be more than 80 years old, is also known for his missing front leg, which ironically has been blamed on a shark attack.
The croc has become one of the Top End’s biggest tourist drawcards and put on a show yesterday in front of the 25 passengers on a cruise, getting some long-awaited revenge.
6.30am
TONY Abbott has abandoned the government’s incendiary changes to race hate laws, conceding they had become a “complication’’ that was hurting the Coalition and risked undermining national unity.
The Prime Minister made the decision to cut the government’s losses yesterday after a co-ordinated and sustained campaign against the free speech amendments to the Racial Discrimination Act had left the Coalition battered in ethnically diverse communities, particularly in western Sydney.
6.15am
Two tourist buses in New York City’s Times Square have collided, leaving at least three people with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and 10 others hurt.
So far there is no indication of what caused the two double decker buses to crash.
Now: #FDNY at scene of bus accident in #TimesSquare. 11 injuries. No life-threatening injuries at this time. pic.twitter.com/sKAuEiU3C9
— FDNY (@FDNY) August 5, 2014It appears 2 double decker buses have collided in Times Square http://t.co/RfsKyPcvpx pic.twitter.com/Z3a7L6vNUi
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) August 5, 2014A close-up of the double-decker bus that hit a light pole in Times Square (via @danlinden) http://t.co/lVQBc9GBqP pic.twitter.com/4Cm6tCQHXk
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) August 5, 20146am
Good morning, and welcome to our morning news coverage. We will be bringing you the best of what’s happening this morning, so you can get across the news quickly.
Mushroom cook’s family heartbreak: court
Alleged triple-murderer Erin Patterson has told the jury she began to become concerned her husband was leaving her out of family events.
2.6m Aussies await pay rise answer
About 2.6 million Aussies on the minimum wage are set to get a pay bump when the Fair Work Commission hands down the annual wage review.
‘Significant’: Remote text service launched
A new satellite to mobile text messaging service has landed in Australia, that is accessible when you’re mobile coverage is out of range.